Game apparatus.



H. B MUNRO.

GAME APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED sB1 1.2o, 1909.

Patented 11112111910.

{ii/M ZIM/MMM,

THE NoRRls PETERS coJvAsHmcrnN, n. c.

entran HARRIET B. TEUNRO, 0F

BR-LSTGL, RHODE ESLAND.

GAME AEPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

llatented Bec. 20, 1910.

Application led September 20, 1909. Serial No. 5i8,660.

To all whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that l, Hannin'r B. MUNRO, of Bristol, in the county ofBristol and State of Rhode lsland, have invented certain new and usefullimprovements in Game appa atus, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to `game apparatus of the type employing a boardand counters or movable pieces, and the object of the invention is toprovide an apparatus of this character whereby several players may findentertainment by carrying` out a representation of an international racefor the pole by airships.

To this end the invention consists in the apparatus substantially ashereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying` drawingmgligure 1 is an isometric view of theboard, with the movable pieces thereon. Fig. 2 represents a sectionthrough a portion of the board carrying` a pointer and dial. Fin'. 8 isa side elevation of a movable centerpiece to represent the North Pole.Fig. i is an elevation of one of the movable counters. Fig. 5 shows foursmall tlaes of the countries indicated on the board in Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters indicate the same members .in all of theviews.

The board 10 may be of any suitable material, such as two paste-boardleaves havina` a fabric backingl 11, to provide for folding' the boardin a well known way. N ear each corner of the board is a socket 12 intowhich there is removably fitted plug 13 carrying` a headed spindle 1lion which a pointer 1.5 is pivoted. This structure of the plug and socketis to enable the pointer to be removed when the board is to be foldedup. A dial 1G, consisting` of a circular seriesf/Sf any suitablenumerals or ordinals fis employed in connection with each pointer foruse in the manner hereinafter described. Four counters 1.7 which areshown as balloon-shaped pieces having bases so that they may standupright, are used to enable each player to locate the amount of advanceor retreat of his airship. l preferably also employ a removableobjective piece such as indicated at 1S, said piece having a base toenable it to stand upright, and is preferably hollow and is alsopreferably pictured to indicate the North Pole. Four small flags 19,each having` a staff, are also preferably eml l l l l l l l ployed foruse in the mannerV hereinafter described.

Startingfrom a point at or adjacent to each dial, is a colored stripehaving various zigzag' directions, and finally reaching` the center ofthe board. rlhe four routes so 1ndicated have distinctive colors. Forinstance, the rome or stripe a, leading from the U. S. field at thelower right-hand corner of Fin'. 1, may be red, the route from theEnglish field at. the upper right-hand corner of Fig". 1, may be blue,'the route from the French field at the upper left-hand corner of saidfigure may be purple, and the route from the German lield at the lowerlefthand corner of said figure may be yellow. To distinguish the fourroutes shown in Fig. 1, they are indicated respectively at a, Z), c and(Z, in the order above mentioned. Each route has equally-spaced, stepmarkings 20, said markings being` spaced sutiiciently far apart toena-ble them to be counted and to enable a counter, 17, to be placed onany one of them or to be placed between any two of hem. As stated themarkings 2O which are herein referred to for convenience as steps, areequally spaced from the point where the route .starts from its field tothe point where it reaches the center of the board which, in this case,is the center of the Arctic Circle and comprises the object've point.But each stripe or route is also provided at indefinite intervals withwhat l refer to, for convenience, as adventure points 21. Theseadventure points are indicated on the board in any suitable way todistinguish them from the step-markings 2.0. Pictured on the board insuitable locations are various representations of adventures orconditions liable to be met with by an airship, and the adventure points21 are located near these pictured representations. I preferably alsoprint descriptive words in connection with the pictures, to facilitatethe playing; of the game in the manner which l will now describe.

The game may be played by two, three or four persons and of course thecountries involved may be other than those represented or indicated inFig. 1. Referring, however,

to the illustration given, the players first decide which country shallbe taken by each of them, and each player then takes possession of theflag, the balloon counter and the dial which belong to that country. The

V"t'onove back 25 points or steps.

North Pole, or objective-piece 18, is placed at the center of the ArcticCircle which is also the point Where the four routes a, b, c and d, meetor intersect. The players tivirl their pointers and that player Whosepointer stops at the highest number begins the game by counting thesteps 20 from the corner of the square where his dial is located, thensetting his counter as many steps or" advance along the colored stripeor route as his pointer indicated When it stopped rotating. Each playerdoes this in turn, and therefore the amount of advance each airship maygain is chr-nce-controlled. Each airship is supposed to meet Withvarious adventures and changes in Weather conditions which at'- fect itscourse. lf the count for the advance of a piece 17, falls on one of theadventure points 21, the direction on the board both by picture andWords compels that player to retreat. Some of the adventure points,hoivever, provide for an extra advance. For instance, if the amount ofadvance permitted by counting the steps given to the player by therotation of his pointer Would result in his counter landing on a point2l adjacent to the Contrary Winds shown at the right of Fig. l, then hewould have to set his counter back live points. Cn the other hand it hiscounter Would land on an adventure point adjacent to the F air Weather;7then he would be permitted to have an eXtra advance of live points orsteps. lt his counter landed on one of the points 2l, shown near thebottom of Fig. l, that playerl would lose his next turn for actuatinghis pointer. And any player Whose counter landed on the point close tothe Arctic Circle Would have Y rlhe player Who succeeds in ii'eachingthe pole or in passing by it iirst, Wins the game and may be supposed tonail his iiag to thepole in token of victory by placing the statt of hisflag in the space at the top 0I" the objective-piece 18.

The counters l?, in practice, are colored to correspond with the colorsof the steppedroutes With which they are to be used, and any suitablecolors may be employed. lhat is, l do not limit myseli1 to anyparticular selection oi colors nor do l limit mysellz to the particularpictures or the directions in which the stripes or routes lead, nor tothe shapes of the counters.

The board may be, of course, any surt'ace provided with the markings,colei-ings and illustrations for playing the game described. lt will beunderstood, of course, that the receptacle in the obj ective-piece 1Smaybe ntilized by the Winner 'tor placing a message therein or fromwhich he may take a message left by a preceding Winner. 0r the articlelett might be of any nature such as a prize.

erases The game apparatus which l have pro vided may consist ofessential features, as fol,lo\vs:-l`he objective designation is the lineof intersection o1 the stepped routes a, b, c and d, at the center ofthe Arctic Circle, or the movable piece 18, might be considered as thisobjective designation. The colored stripes and their cross-markings 20constitute stepped routes from several starting points to the pole.rllhe pictorial representations and their acconipanying directions as toextra permitted steps oi;l advance or distances of retreat that must betaken, constitute adVance-controlling directions. find the dials andpointers constitute chance-devices tor controlling the amount ofmovement that a player may impart to his counter.

Having new described my invention, l claim:

l. A game apparatus comprising a single objective space and pluralityet' stepped routes leading Athereto from different starting points, andhaving various Zig-Lag directions, the zigzag stretches ot each routebeing of different lengths and angle trom the zig-Zag stretches oit theother routes, all of said routes crossing each other at various points,adventure points being provided for each route and located adjacent thepoint where said route crosses other routes, advanee and retreatdirections tor each group of adventure points thus provided, wherebyeach route is subjected to the same advance and retarding conditions.

A game apparatus comprising a rectangular board having a centralobjective space, and a plurality of sockets, one at each corner, aplurality of stepped routes havii'ig portions inclosing said sockets toform start ing points, all ot said routes being oi the same length andhaving various Zig-Zag dr rections and leading to said objective point,the zig-Zag stretches of each route being of ditlerent lengths and anglefrom the zig-zag stretches et the other routes, vall oi' said routescrossing each other at various points, adventure points being providedfor each. route and located adjacent the point Where said route crossesthe other routes, advance and retreat directions for ea ch group ofadventure points thus provided, whereby cach route is subjected to thesame advance and retarding conditions, movable counters for said routes,and chance controlled devices provided ivith plugs adapted to lit saidsockets.

ln testimony whereof l have aiiiXed my signature, in presence ot twoWitnesses.

i t n. nonno.

1rWitnesses A. lil. HARRISON, l). W. Piazzn'rrn

